Video survelience in prisons, or anywhere else for that matter, does little to deter anything. However, if the camera is of sufficient quality it may aid in identification of both perpetrator and victim.
As suggested in the linked article, prison rape is a symptom of "corruption" within the system. While it is often hard to work up sympathy for folks who are incarcerated because they chose to disregard - usually rather blatantly - the rules/laws that the rest of us spend so much energy in adhereing to, there is a financial side to the issue that most folks are not aware of. While prison medical care is generally limited to what is absolutely constitutionally required - think what the non-paying public gets at either the ER or at teaching hospital clinics - it costs a heck of a lot more inside prison than outside. In addition, it is rather common for inmates to sue for violation of their civil right to be protected - and if rape can be proven it is a
prima fascia case usually worth several hundereds of thousands of dollars. Add the extra costs of AIDS/Hepatitis care and the expenses become astronomical. And the icing on the cake is that the families of inmates are now getting some traction in the courts as "co-victims" who suffer because of adjusted visitation rules imposed to protect them from catching AIDS/Hep as well as the usual "my baby died because of your negligence" lawsuits.
In systems where prison rape occurs more frequently there are additional costs in personnel and maintenance. If inmates are "allowed" to assault one another the guards use more sick leave/vacation - presumably as a symptom of fear that they too may be assaulted. There is a suggesion, based on maintenance costs, that things are not fixed when first malfunctioning, but allowed to deteriorate to the point of complete failure requiring replacement rather than repair.
So, the bottom line is, as usual, how much you want to pay? But getting the general public to understand that is next to impossible. Here in Virginia a group that wants more $$ for schools is running an ad complaining that the state throws away money on "criminal welfare services" (pretrial services) while neglecting teh chilldruns futures. Try to explain more spending for prison medical care to the taxpayers - I'' hold your coat while they lynch you after tarring & feathering you.
stay safe.
skidmark
